Perishable Theatre and Everett Dance Theatre present Scratch & Burn on Friday February 22 at 8pm

For one night only…. Perishable Theatre and Everett Dance Theatre will be burning up the stage with “SCRATCH & BURN” By Teo Castellanos/D-Projects ( Miami, FL)

Friday February 22, 2008 at 8 p.m.
The Auditorium in Roberts Hall
Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, Rhode Island College more »

This is pretty cool news, off of the East Side Public Education Coalition’s website:

Arts supporters and dedicated ESPEC readers will remember that the theater progam at Hope High was almost killed in the summer of 2006, but was saved at the last minute through the efforts of many supporters. This week, Ari showed us why it was all worthwhile.

Ari Brisbon, a student at Hope High School on Providence’s East Side, has won the state Shakespeare Acting and Recitation competition.

I wish I had made this up, because it’s brilliant. But I didn’t. It’s real. Check out Barackula, the musical:

Barackula is a short political horror rock musical about young Barack Obama having to stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990. Obama (Justin Sherman) finds that he must convince the vampire society that opposing political philosophies can coexist or else the society may transform Obama to the dark side. Reminiscent to Michael Jackson’s Thriller and a slight infusion of Jesus Christ Superstar, the film solely depicts Obama’s strengths, merits and genuineness while being quietly respectful towards the other presidential candidates.

This short musical is highly entertaining with dancing Harvard student vampires, fantastic choreography by Victor Tang and Sherman’s physical likeness to Obama is remarkable. Shot on the new RED ONE camera, the quality of the film itself is stunning. Produced by Justin Sherman, Gavin Leighton, Brooke Shirey and Mike Lawson, Barackula – The Musical is exceedingly unique amidst today’s vast online media created by the voting public. The intent of the film makers is to create something fun and memorable during this year’s election. Release date is expected by February 2008.

Listen to audio clips on Barackula’s MySpace page.

It’s Weds-Sun at the McCormack Theater, 70 Brown St. Schedule here.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The Brown University Literary Arts Program and the Brown/Trinity Repertory Consortium are happy to announce the first installment of the 26th annual New Plays Festival.

Having served as a forum for the early work of playwrights such as Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House, Eurydice) and Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics), the New Plays Festival has continually proved instrumental in bringing the work of America’s most talented young playwrights to the stage, and this year’s festival will certainly prove no exception!

Join MFA candidate playwrights Christina Anderson, Dipika Guha, and Meg Miroshnik, working under the guidance of Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, The Baltimore Waltz) and Bonnie Metzgar (Joe’s Pub, 365 Days/365 Plays) and alongside graduate students in the Brown/Trinity Consortium and professional artists from around New England, as they present three new plays in one extraordinary weekend of artistic collaboration and theatrical innovation!

I can’t believe I haven’t found the time to post re: the ceiling collapse at Black Rep, but now that we’re opening our doors again tonight for Latin Jazz & Salsa, I think it is finally appropriate to lay the cards on the table and dispel any last remaining rumors. From Artistic/Executive Director Donald W. King:

Following a two-week closure caused by the sudden collapse of 1/3 of its café ceiling on December 27th, The Providence Black Repertory Company will host a Re-Opening Celebration on Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5pm until closing.

more »

The French Phantom??
Sunday, January 6, 2008, 3:30 PM
Grace Church, 175 Mathewson St, Providence, RI

The Program
Clérambault: La Muse de l’Opéra
Leclair: Violin Concerto in A Minor
Mouret: Fanfare Suite

Tickets
General, $25
Senior, $20
Student, $10
Low-income, $10
Supporter, $50

Available at ArtTixRI.com, (401) 621-6123,
or at the door

Please bring diapers, personal hygeine and personal care items for women and children in shelters!

WOOHOO!

And if you can’t get enough of Black Rep’s affiliate artists, Stephen Baucher, of Workhorse Theatre Co has a new project in the second half of its two-week run at Perishable. Wild Porcelain is an absurd physical comedy. Spoken in Dutch, Spanish and English, the story takes audiences to the top of a mythical mountain where the bonds of friendship are challeng ed by a force of ridiculosity. Since its Mr. Baucher at the helm here, you should be sure to expect amazing movement. This one is also at 8pm tonight and tomorrow night, and at 2pm on Sunday. If you missed “With Claws and Beak” you can’t afford to drop the ball on this one.

If you didn’t catch Black Rep’s “Two Can Play,” you missed the first performance in a season of thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, sometimes even hilarious American stories. This weekend, on Friday and Saturday at 8pm for $5 and Sunday at 3pm for the people’s pay-what-you-can matinee, Donald King and Black Rep’s affiliate artist company premiere a workshop production of “Tabanca.” Tabanca is a Trinidadian expression meaning the loss or heartache you feel when you feel like an alien in your own home. The piece, still in its infancy, is a musical, multi-sensory excavation of the psychology of Black men. It features monologues, poems, jokes, and a whole slew of questions about the American condition.

Last WEEKEND of Weightles
MUST CLOSE NOVEMBER 11 !!!!!!

Weightless
Oct 26-Nov 11, 2007
Perishable Theatre
95 Empire Street
Providence, RI

Weightless, A New Play by Christine Evans. A kind of sci-fi mirror-world vision of the U.S. set in a scarily close future, has been enjoying great reviews! Get your tix today!

Providence Journal says “Fun and a bit Scary”

The Newport Mercury says “…flawlessly performed..”

TICKETS:
$20 General Admission
$15 for students/seniors/military
Tickets are available through ArtTix online or
ArtTix Sales Office:(401) 621-6123

Thursday 8 November to Sunday 18 November
Melancholy Play and Discussion with Playwright Sarah Ruhl
Brown Theatre presents Melancholy Play, a comedy by MacArthur-winning playwright (and Brown alumna) Sarah Ruhl. Directed by Ken Prestininzi, shows run Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in Leeds Theatre, 77 Waterman St. Tickets are available online or by calling the Box Office at (401) 863-2838. Ruhl will also visit campus to discuss her work on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 5 p.m. in Leeds Theatre.
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Theatre/melancholy.htm

Thursday 8 November
The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance
Edward Muir, Clarence L. Ver Steeg Professor in the Arts and Sciences and Professor of History at Northwestern University, will deliver the 27th William F. Church Memorial Lecture. His talk, titled “The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance,” will begin at 4:30 p.m. in List Art Center, Room 120. This talk focuses on the final phase of the culture wars in the early seventeenth century that pitted commercial opera, with its classical plots, women singers on stage, and often racy plot lines, against the decorous model of Jesuit theater.
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/History/events/

Thursday 8 November
The Cuban Hip Hop All-Stars Screening and Director Discussion
The Center for Latin American Studies Cuba Film Series presents The Cuban Hip Hop All-Stars (2004), directed by Joshua Bee Alafia, at 7 p.m. at the Watson Institute. Alfia will deliver a short talk before the film, which captures the quick rise of Cuban hip hop during its infancy. Focusing on the social issues that drive the musical genre in Cuba, such as police violence, and interviews with rising stars such as Obsecion and Explosion Suprema, Alafia creates a thorough portrait of a burgeoning scene.
http://www.brown.edu/news/2007-08/07-042.html